This is another in a series of posts that looks at data from NTUF's recently released BillTally report for the 1st Session of the 112th Congress.
Today we look at net spending agenda by Congressional delegation and how House delegations compare with one another. The average delegation in the House had a net spending agenda of $142.2 billion. The difference in party control (whether there are more Democrats or Republicans in the delegation) does appear to have an impact on the delegation's net spending agenda. States where there are more Democrats than Republicans in the delegation had a net spending agenda of $350.6 billion, while Republican controlled delegations would cut spending, on average, by $7.1 billion. Only one delegation (Minnesota) has an even number of Democrats and Republicans and is thus considered a split delegation.
At Large districts (states with only one Representative, the District of Columbia, and the territories) have higher net spending agendas than do states that have more than one Representative.
The table also highlights the delegations with the largest spending and savings agendas. If you don't see your delegation, you can download delegation data here (in Excel).
If you're not familiar with BillTally, here's a little background: Since 1991, NTUF has computed the legislative spending agendas of Members of Congress by analyzing the costs – and savings – of the bills that they sponsor and cosponsor as part of our BillTally research project. BillTally is the only comprehensive look at the potential cost to taxpayers of what Members want to spend on a Member-by-Member basis.
If you're curious about what proposals your Members of Congress have made, you can search detailed reports for each Member of Congress here.
Average Net Spending Agendas for House Delegations | |||||
| Delegation | Average Increases | Average Decreases | Average Net | # of Increase Bills | # of Decrease Bills |
| Overall Average | $218,674 | ($76,513) | $142,161 | 25 | 8 |
| Democrat-controlled Average | $380,132 | ($29,549) | $350,583 | 38 | 3 |
| Republican-controlled Average | $103,626 | ($110,728) | ($7,101) | 16 | 11 |
| Split Control | $186,640 | ($61,821) | $124,819 | 24 | 8 |
| Average for At Large Districts | $412,072 | ($48,056) | $364,016 | 33 | 5 |
| Multi-Member Average | $160,204 | ($85,116) | $75,088 | 23 | 8 |
| Largest Net Spending Average | |||||
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | $1,401,539 | ($36,490) | $1,365,049 | 108 | 3 |
| Smallest Net Spending Average | |||||
| KANSAS | $547 | ($242,212) | ($241,665) | 10 | 17 |
| Largest Democrat-controlled Net Spending Average | |||||
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | $1,401,539 | ($36,490) | $1,365,049 | 108 | 3 |
| Smallest Democrat-controlled Net Spending Average | |||||
| IOWA | $24,797 | ($53,652) | ($28,856) | 31 | 7 |
| Largest Republican-controlled Net Spending Average | |||||
| ILLINOIS | $365,468 | ($56,937) | $308,531 | 29 | 8 |
| Smallest Republican-controlled Net Spending Average | |||||
| KANSAS | $547 | ($242,212) | ($241,665) | 10 | 17 |
Source: NTUF BillTally , 112th Congress | |||||